Another Day
by Muria
Summary: A glimpse into Todd's life between all the fights and before mutants made headlines...Contains a series of one-shots that shift style, intent, and secondary characters by chapter...
1. Chapter 1

1st attempt: criticism welcome.

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Huddled in the remnants of a blanket, Todd shifted uneasily, wincing at the feel of bruised ribs. A glance out the window showed gradual illumination in the east. Todd jerked the blanket over his head, eyes clenched as his elbows hit the wall. Nervous eyes darted to the door, but nothing happened.

Nothing happened. For a moment, hope mixed with unease, then vanished, almost disappointed. Todd shifted, closing his eyes again.

Then, a short series of thuds approached his door. Hesitantly, Todd glanced at it. Just as hesitant, Fred opened the door.

"Todd? You alright?" But, he stopped, watching the boy in the corner.

"I'm fine, yo!" Todd forced a smile, "Just tripped over this thing." He brandished the tattered cloth over the mess of clutter in his floor.

Freddy smiled, carefully moving inside the room. "Are you sure it was that? You could've tripped over any of this."

"Yo! This thing's had it out for me since I ripped it!" Todd leapt to his feet, struggling to ignore the twinge in his side at the sudden movement. He grinned at the larger mutant. "Any chance of breakfast, or am I the last awake?"

Examining the other, Freddy spoke slowly, "It's three in the morning, Todd."

Beaming, Todd hopped to the door, "Perfect, yo! That means we may get something before the others clear it out!"

"Don't we do that?"

"But we get to eat when we do it."

Unwilling to argue with that logic, Freddy joined Todd in creeping downstairs and raiding the cabinets for a 'light' breakfast. Ten minutes later, the slim supplies halved, leaving two content mutants to sneak out of the Brotherhood house before their hot-headed teammates found out.

"So, where are we going, Todd?"

"…School? Let's head to school. They can't blame us if we were at school!" Todd grinned, cheerful in the empty street with a full stomach.

"Hey… Todd…"

Pausing in mid-jump, Todd looked to Fred.

"Why'd you bring me with you? You were awake before I came in… And you'd have eaten more if I wasn't there." Silence greeted him. Nervous, he glanced to Todd, only to see an uncommon look of thought on the toad's face.

"…You're my friend, Freddy." Todd finally answered, "Besides, why not?"

"If I'm your friend, why'd you lie about tripping?"

"I didn't lie-"

"You were curled up. That's how you sit when you're upset, not when you lose your balance."

Todd struggled for a response, uncertain how to respond when Fred had seen both situations numerous times before. "Cause it's embarrassing, yo." He looked down as he continued, "I was just thinkin' about stuff and sat down. It's nothing.'"

Freddy hardly looked convinced.

"It's nothin,' Freddy."

Nodding slowly, the giant responded, "Okay, Todd. I believe you."

The duo continued onward, the conversation gradually returning to its jovial atmosphere. After a 'short-cut,' they arrived at school ten minutes before class started. Crowds of teens remained oblivious to their arrival until any free space in the crowded hall vanished with Freddy's passing.

Glares and a few hissed words followed them. But, that was nothing new, and the two ignored them. The peace lasted until they passed a certain locker, one currently encircled by a group of jocks. Duncan looked up and smirked, his friends' eyes jumping to Todd.

In that moment, Freddy's stride changed, abandoning his normal attempt to walk softly as he stormed through the hall, actually denting several of the floor tiles. Shocked, Todd kept pace in silence. Shock apparently was the look of the day, marring every other face in that hallway.

Once they passed them, the younger mutant spoke softly, "What was that, yo?"

"Nothin.' Just being a friend." Freddy smiled, jumping subjects, "Think Lance and Pietro are ticked?"

"Yeh, but-"

The smile transformed into a grin, "Then let's stick together today. Keep them from yelling at you."

Todd paused, smiling softly as he realized he was safe from Duncan, even if it was just for a day.


	2. Chapter 2

I do realize that this is kind of random, but I was inspired about an hour ago for this. It has been proof-read, though. Still, I had some issues with Todd's dialect, so criticism is welcome if you tell me how to fix it.

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They all think I'm crazy, ya' know? To be in love with the Scarlet Witch, the brother-hating, father-killing psychopath with an attitude like a scalded tigress. But, I'm not that dumb. I know she'll never love me back, and that's fine. She's just got to know that I do love her, ya' know?

O' course, I can't tell the guys that. They wouldn't believe it comin' from me, Toad, the slimy coward. Cuz I don't want her to know 'cause of hope. I want her to know 'cause she needs to know it. Girls are funny like that, but it's not too funny if ya' think about it. But, the guys would start laughin' when I started getting all touchy-feely and probably crack a rib when I told 'em that I thought about it. Jerks. But they're better then nothing.

The guys are jerks, but that's normal. With girls, they act real mean to each other, fight like cats, and hate each other forever, but they get hurt and stay hurt. I hate that. Ya' have to be so careful with girls, or they get hurt. Course, some of 'em would beat me to a bloody pulp and feel better in five seconds, even if I didn't do anything. Wanda's one of them. I kind of wish it had been me that hurt her, then.

But beating me doesn't help her. She needs to beat her dad, and Magneto's too strong. So she's hurt and not getting better. At least she's not tryin' to kill Pietro anymore. Speedy should be happy. It wouldn't help her anyway, or I'd help her try to catch him.

She reminds me of my Ma. I could never tell the guys that. Maybe Freddy, 'cause he loves his ma, but I dunno…

Wanda doesn't look like my Ma at all. She's dark and foreign and got 'I'll kill you if I'm bored' written in her eyes. My Ma wasn't dark or light, just kind of dusty and normal and sad. My dad left her before I was born; she said before she even knew she was pregnant. He just left 'cause he didn't want her, didn't care about her, didn't love her. She broke, just like that. All my life, my Ma lived to get by, not to live. She moped and cried and hated life. But she didn't leave me, 'cause she said I needed to know she loved me. Even if she could never show it any other way, she said I'd know she loved me. I never understood that 'til she died.

Never getting it, never seeing it, I didn't tell her I loved her. I never did. Not really. I'd say it, but I wouldn't act it, wouldn't do anything for her, didn't care about her at all. Course, I was a kid then, and kids don't see things the way adults do. Right now, I'm in the middle, still wanting to live for me, but seein' what my Ma saw, that people break and sometimes ya' have to try to fix 'em.

So I'm trying to fix Wanda. It's not gonna' be me to fix her. I just got to get it started, get her used to being loved. Then, when she finds a guy she actually likes, she can love 'em 'cause she knows she can be loved. It's nothin' wrong with her that her dad's crazier then she'll ever be. So, I just gotta love her, and know that she's never gonna love me back. It hurts, ya' know. To finally love someone, really love 'em, and they don't care. But, I can't let her stay broken.

They all think I'm crazy, and I'm starting to think they're right. But I can't let Wanda think it's her. I've just gotta love her, ya' know? 'Cause too many people are broken, but maybe we're not so broken if we can help fix each other up. Maybe there's still hope for girls like my Ma and guys like me. I know not all of us'll be fixed, but it doesn't hurt so bad if I can look at someone like Wanda, one day when she's better, and think 'I helped her, I helped make that,' and I can forget for a minute that I'm broken and no one's ever gonna' bother to fix me.

I guess I am crazy, but, one day, I'll see her in the street, and she'll be happy, and some of that happy will come back to me 'cause someone's not broken anymore. I've just got to love her, just so she'll know that that day's comin.'


	3. Chapter 3

No idea where this came from... Hope you enjoy:P

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Uneasy eyes leapt across the room, scanning anything in the trashed entryway for signs of life. Not out of fear for robbers, though. Not only was it daylight, but at least two teenage boys were home, currently annoying each other in the kitchen. Heavy footsteps merged with rapid air-displacement until a deliberate cacophony emanated from that side of the house.

Unfortunately, that noise also hid any other noise from that side of the house. Which meant Lance could be home.

Todd shuddered.

Enough trouble without Lance being the first to find him. Sometimes, the leader of the Brotherhood boys took his job too seriously without remembering the 'brother' in their name. Of course, Todd wasn't scared. But, he really wanted to find Tabby.

As the amphibian slipped inside, he glanced into the kitchen, dismissing the distracted boys from his 'approachable' list. Really, more like checking Freddy off that list. Like Todd'd really go to Pietro for help if he wasn't about to die any other way… Maybe if it was about X-Men, though…

Neither of the older mutants noticed him. Past them, Todd reached the staircase and stopped, just staring weakly at the slope of the structure. Then, he shook himself mentally and began a slow ascent to the second floor, hoping to find Tabby in her room and not just a locked door. Please, not a locked door… Lance's jeep's outside, so Lance is somewhere inside… And probably on the second floor.

Todd glanced back at the kitchen, but Pietro's voice remained undeniably present, more-so than Freddy, actually. Trying to talk to the Blob would hardly be productive. Not with a bored Speedster around.

Steeling his nerve, the youngest of the Brotherhood slipped up to Tabby's door at last and knocked. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Todd heard footsteps behind him, steps too slow to be Pietro and too light to be Freddy, both of whom Todd could still hear bickering. Those steps were also far too heavy to belong to the slender Tabby.

Slowly turning, Todd bit his lip to keep quiet as Lance stormed past him to stand at the top of the stairs and yell, "Shut up! I'm sick of you guys! What part of 'headache' don't you get?" Irritation stained his entire posture, anger on his strained face, and danger in his stance.

From downstairs, Pietro shouted a response, "Get over it, Avalanche!"

So stiff from fright already, this surge of anger only forced Todd to tense more, only to fall back into something soft. Shocked, Todd found himself staring up at Tabby from his bizarre position of leaning against her shoulder. Without a word, but with a very obvious eye roll, Tabby pulled him into her room and shut the door.

With a surprisingly critical eye, she took in Todd's appearance, noting the pale skin, the mud-coated hair and clothes, the bruises on his face and arms, the shivering of his entire body. Gently, she maneuvered the shell-shocked mutant into a chair.

"What happened, Todd?" She murmured, unfazed by the boy's continued silence. "The jocks again?" A flinch. She sighed and continued, "Next time, just tell Lance. He knows how to handle this. I'm really not good at patching you up."

Yet, she still unearthed a first-aid kid from her dresser, locating needed materials expertly, applying them carefully to the injuries blossoming on Todd's skin.

By the time she finished, the color in Todd's face had returned. "Thanks, yo. I would've gotten Freddy, but he was with Pietro, and… You know?"

Tabby shook her head, "Scared of Speedy. Really, Todd." But, there was no bite to her words.

"I'd have gone to Lance- but he's just been real mad lately!" Todd flinched unconsciously, then pretended it hadn't happened.

For a long moment, Tabby just looked at him. "Todd, you know I'm not going to stay here forever, right?" She plowed on, not waiting for a response, "If things don't get better by then, if you can't keep the jocks off you, or if Pietro's still messing with your head, or if Lance still scares you, then you can come with me. Unless Freddy's actually going to protect you, I guess I will."

"…yo?" Todd whispered weakly.

Tabby shifted, moving towards her door, her face turned from the younger teen, "Just keep it in mind. You guys mean a lot to me. But, you're the one that I may be able to help, that may actually need me. If you do, just say so when I leave." With that, she touched the doorknob, "Stay in here as long as you want. Just don't mess with my stuff." And she was gone, downstairs to eat and laugh and tease the other boys.

Todd sat there for a long time, eyes closed as he reveled in someone's protection. None of the guys dared break into Tabby's room, not when she'd blow them out the window. And she let him stay. But, would she really take him with her? Would he really want to go?

A few months later, Tabby breezed past Mystique, breezed out the door, and breezed out of Todd's life. He never got the chance to tell her he wanted to go. 'Cause nothing had changed, but she wasn't there anymore. And, somehow, he could never blame her for it… If he'd only said something then… but he always had the horrible feeling the others wouldn't have let him go…


End file.
